Domestic farm animals, such as cattle, sheep, and goats, are raised on ranches under conditions which make them susceptible to attack and destruction by their natural predators. In particular, sheep and goat herds of the United States remain subject to attack from coyotes, while in Africa sheep and goat herds are subject to attack by jackals. The destruction of livestock by predators presents ranchers with serious financial problems and sheep and goat ranchers expend considerable time and money in trying to reduce and eliminate their losses from such attacks.
There are a number of predator control programs which have been attempted by individual ranchers and government agencies to reduce or eliminate predator attacks. Some of these methods include use of poison bait, traps, snairs and shooting, including shooting from planes and helicopters. Such conventional predator control techniques are not selective in killing the predator responsible for attacking a rancher's livestock, but indiscriminately kill members of the predator species responsible for livestock attacks as well as innocent members of the species. The indiscriminate slaughter from wildlife predator control programs results in a loss of wildlife that many consider unacceptable to the environment. In addition, many of these predator control programs are expensive and often not very cost effective in eliminating the predator responsible for attacks on a herd.
In response to such indiscriminate predator control programs which were often ineffective despite destruction of a number of predators, attempts have been made to reduce or eliminate predator attacks on livestock by killing or repelling only the targeted predator responsible for the attacks. One such early attempt is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,349,665 in the use of mechanical injectors suspended from a sheep's neck to kill coyotes. Such mechanical injectors can be accidently triggered to release their toxic chemical on contact with another sheep or some undergrowth or brush. Another more recent development of a passive predator control technique is disclosed in the inventor's earlier U.S. Pat. No. 3,842,806, which discloses a toxicant filled reservoir enclosed in a outer covering resembling the color and texture of the natural surface of the sheep. Such collars have to be frequently replaced as the sheep grows, and the time required to round up these livestock and replace collars makes it impractical and expensive to use them on an entire herd of sheep. Further, these collars used straps and buckles, which could come loose and fall off. A need has thus risen for an approved predator control collar which may be placed upon livestock, such as a young lamb or kid goat and remain in place without further maintenance during the life of the animal.